Mountains of plastic waste: PET bottles, nylon fibers and polyurethane foam, typify our throwaway culture. They choke rivers, smother oceans and do not decompose. But what if these plastics could be converted, not as pollutants, but into clean energy and high-value chemicals? A team of researchers has revealed a new frontier, which does exactly that. They have created a solar-powered reactor that can decompose durable plastic waste. Using a process called photoreforming (PR), the system, powered...

Entanglement has now become the key resource in quantum information theory. It is being used in quantum teleportation and quantum cryptography, quantum computing, communication, and precision measurements. More than 200 years after Sadi Carnot introduced the second law of thermodynamics, scientists have discovered a similar rule for the quantum world. This new “second law of entanglement” demonstrates that quantum entanglement can be altered and reversed in a controlled manner, much like the...

Scientists leverage artificial intelligence to overcome a major hurdle in zinc-ion battery development, paving the way for cheaper, greener, and more efficient energy storage. In a significant leap forward for battery innovation, scientists from Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University and China’s Huaiyin Normal University have teamed up to create an AI-powered system that could drastically improve how rechargeable batteries are made. Led by Dr. Edison Huixiang Ang from the NIE/NTU, the...